Stranger Things creators call season 4 their "Game of Thrones season" as it's so "spread out"

Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers have hinted at the "epic" nature of the next installment of their Netflix series, comparing the scale and scope of events to Game of Thrones. 

"We kind of jokingly call it our Game of Thrones season because it’s so spread out, so I think that’s what’s unique or most unique about the season," Matt Duffer said during Deadline’s Contenders Television panel. 

He added: "Joyce and the Byers family have left [Hawkins] at the end of season 3," he added, referring to Winona Ryder's character and her sons Will (Noah Schnapp) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). 

"They are in California – we’ve always wanted to have that like E.T.-esque suburb aesthetic, which we finally got to do this year in the desert; and then we have Hopper [David Harbour] in Russia; and then of course we have a group remaining in Hawkins. So we have these three storylines, are all connected and kind of interwoven together, but it’s just very different tones."

The new season will also see the return of series regulars Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, and Natalia Dyer. 

"We didn’t know how big the season was going to get, and we didn’t even realize until we were about halfway through, just in terms of how much story that we wanted to tell this season," Ross Duffer continued. "Game of Thrones is one thing we’ve referenced, but also for us really what it’s about is revelations, in that we really wanted to start giving the audience some answers."

The brothers also revealed that the upcoming season will contain much longer episodes than we're used to. “I don’t think we have an episode clocking in under an hour – even in season 1 there were episodes that were like 35 minutes. You kind of forget that," Matt said. "This season, they’re very long, so I think it’s almost double the length of any season. So that’s one reason it’s taken so long. It does have this sort of epic quality to it. It’s a different feel, for sure."

Stranger Things season 4 is releasing in two parts, with the first arriving on May 27. In the meantime, check out our list of the other best Netflix shows that you can watch right now.